White House Petition Demanding Open Access Requirements For Federally Funded Research

from the sign-on dept

For years we've discussed the issue of open access for federally funded research. Currently, NIH has a program that requires any of the research that receives its funds to be available via public open access databases a year after its published elsewhere. While this still allows federally funded research to be locked up under a questionable copyright for a year, it's certainly better than locking it up for eternity. And while there have been some unfortunate efforts to ban NIH and other government agencies from requiring such conditions, many in academia favor such information sharing.

Re: The only problem with that..

Why Bother

I've signed a number of petitions on the Whitehouse petition website and received a number of responses to my petitions from said website.

I can tell you that you are wasting your time going there to sign any of the petitions.

What you will get is a statement from the Whitehouse justifying the status quo. At no point in any of these communications is there even a HINT that things need to change.

It's purely a PR stunt meant to fool the sheeple into thinking that they care about your, my, or anyone's opinion.

From the response to the petition asking for a repeal of the PATRIOT Act:

"While these are important tools, we do not need to sacrifice the privacy and civil liberties of the American people for security. As noted above, all investigative techniques used by the government must be employed in a responsible manner that is consistent with our laws, including the U.S. Constitution, and our values. It is also important to note that many of these tools are subject to rigorous oversight by the different branches of government. For example, with respect to the three provisions of the PATRIOT Act that were recently extended, approval of the FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) Court is needed before the government may use any of these authorities, robust substantive standards and procedural protections are in place within the executive branch, and the Congress continues to exercise its oversight responsibilities."

For me, the primary reason to REPEAL the PATRIOT act is that it's been shown time and time again that law enforcement agencies do NOT use investigative techniques in a responsible maner. Nor are they ever held accountable for transgressions against the law.

Congress is not providing oversight. If it were then the branches of the government that were acting in contravention to our laws would be held accountable for their actions. Where are the consequences to the FBI for warantless wiretaps, for goading the weak minded into terrorist plots of their own fabrication so that they can then "thwart" them. For the seizure of domains and property by ICE without due process, a RIGHT guaranteed by the Constitution?

We HAVE sacrificed our privacy and civil liberties, not for security, but for security THEATER.